April 28, 2009

I am so proud of my husband. Not only is he a great Marine...he's been able to meet R. Lee Ermey twice!! For those of you following this blog that are not familiar with Ermey, he played the famous drill instructor in the movie "Full Metal Jacket" and also has his own show on the History Channel called "Mail Call". We're still unsure why he was here at Fort Sill but Ryan thinks he was filming his newest show "Locked and Loaded" also on the History Channel. The first time Ryan met him was back in 29 Palms where he came into the field to watch Lima 3/12 fire the big guns for his new show. Needless to say, I am a bit jealous but am very happy Ryan had an enjoyable evening at dinner with a Marine celebrity. A bit of trivia, R. Lee Ermey served 11 years in the Marine Corps with a few tours in Vietnam, was medically discharged in 1971 and went to acting school in the Phillippines. Semper Fi!!

April 27, 2009

After living down near Dallas, TX for 5 years as a kid, I cannot recall ever hearing a tornado siren go off. Last night, after almost a year of living in our house here in OK, the tornado siren a block away, went off. We had a heavy rainfall but it was too dark to see anything. It only lasted 5 mins or so but we got Olivia out of bed and took her into the bathroom. She slept through the entire process since I just sat with her and rocked her to keep her asleep. Ryan gathered the computer, phones, water and tuna. Then after the siren stopped, we could have gotten another round of heavy rain so I put jackets, shoes, fire box, wallets, diapers and wipes into the bathroom. The cats also had their collars put on them in case they got out people would know they're not strays (which there are a lot of around here). Honestly, if the house did get blown away, they'd most likely stick around here...they're such home-bodies.

Nothing happened, for those of you thinking, "OMG!!!" Olivia slept well the rest of the night, Ryan and I went to bed with no worries at all. I just think our first experience with the tornado siren was a good one....let's just hope living in tornado alley allows us to keep having good experiences.

April 21, 2009

I must brag on Ryan as the best husband in the world. Olivia and I were outside enjoying a warm and windless afternoon, when Ryan came home from work and took flowers out of his truck. I immediately smiled and asked if the flowers were for Mother's Day (he'll be gone this year for training back in 29 Palms). He replied, "No, they're just because I felt like it." OMG!!! This man is wonderful. It's been a while since he's brought me 'Just Because' flowers and I love him so much. He's been busy getting back into shape after eye surgery (doctor's said no working out for a long time to avoid sweat dripping into the eyes, causing him to wipe his eyes which is a big no no after surgery), so between that, his master classes and work, he's been a very busy man. I am proud of him for going back to school to advance his military career for the betterment of this family. He is a great dad, husband and I am proud to call him mine!!

April 16, 2009

Easter Sunday was relaxing for our family. We got up and Olivia completed her first egg hunt. It was raining outside so the hunt happened inside. She collected her eggs with stickers inside and preceded to find her M&M's...she's our daughter, she loves chocolate. We had our weekly pancake breakfast then Ryan needed to study for his final that afternoon. All in all, it was a nice day and Olivia was as adorable as ever.

The after math of giving a toddler stickers. She then put Mickey on Ryan's big toe.

After our short visit in Ohio it was off to MN to surprise Ryan's mother, Brenda, for her 50th Birthday. We had been planning this trip for months and it worked out perfectly with Ryan work trip to Camp Lejeune. We made the 12 hr trip from Dayton to my parents house for the night. Then once we all woke up Sunday morning, we went to pick up Ryan's dad, Terry, at the airport and went to his parents house. Brenda had no idea we were coming. We entered the garage and Terry said to Brenda, "I got you flowers and another gift." He picked up Olivia and carried her over to see Brenda. Now, she had been fighting a cold for about a week, luckily the three of us did not get sick, so she wasn't in the best of moods. That all changeld when she saw Olivia. Brenda was speechless. I had the video camera rolling this entire time, and it is a sight to see. Unfortuneately, I am unable to get it on the blog right now but I'll keep trying. We think this was Brenda's best birthday ever!

The week we stayed up north was filled with relaxation. Ryan's sister, Sarah, drops off her daughter Lydia everyday for babysitting by Grandma, so we got to hang out with our niece all week. We went to dinner with family friends, went to the park with Olivia and got to visit Sarah's work for her birthday later that week. We also went over to see my parents in WI and had authentic Irish food (as you can get in WI) at a local Irish pub near my parents house called "Ryan's Pub". It was a long and tiring trip, the driving alone was calculated at over 45 hrs total, but it was great to see family again.

April 6, 2009

After our nice stay in Knoxville, TN at my aunt's house, we headed the 6 hrs up to Dayton, OH to visit Ryan's family. It's been a few years since Ryan and I saw everyone up there so it was very nice to meet the new cousin's. Olivia hung out with many of Ryan's second cousin's that neither of us had met yet. We ventured to Uncle Kevin's house for a bit before he took us to lunch. Then he enjoyed playing with Olivia, who surprisingly warmed up to him very fast. Olivia is cautious around men she is unfamiliar with, a good thing, but with Uncle Kevin, he looks and sounds very similar to Ryan's dad that I think she thought he was Poppy.

Then we went to Grandma and Grandpa house before going to dinner at famous Marian's Pizza, the only place we eat while in town. It's great, you order your pizza, find a seat anywhere in the restaurant you'd like and wait for you're number to be called. Our group took up a few tables, as it was the grandparents, all the grandchildren in the area and their families. Amazingly, we noticed this was the first time that the 4 daughters were not present, just the grandkids and great-grandkids. After a wonderful evening getting to know the great-grandkids, Olivia slept soundly (as she was tired at the pizza place and stayed up past her bedtime) in her own room while Ryan and I slept soundly in another. The next morning our stay came to an end and our 12 hr drive to WI was ahead of us. We'd arrive in WI Saturday night and then go and surprise Ryan's mother the next morning for her 50th Birthday.